City takes grass duty from park system, then neglects duty

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)—Neighborhood complains about overgrown grass and want city to claim responsibility.

Maintaining a house more than a 100 years old is almost as important as maintaining the yard in front of it, according to Riverside Drive neighbor Susan Kohler.

“Oh yeah, it grows like crazy here,” said Kohler.

Recently neighbors have noticed a lack of maintenance in their community…but not by their neighbors.

“We take a lot of pride in our neighborhood and how our yards look and how the area looks,” said Kohler.

According to employees at the adjoining James River Park many of these neighbors have been complaining about overgrown grass on the side of their roadway. One park employee put out printed signs indicating that Richmond’s Public Works is responsible to for mowing the high grass and they should file their complaints somewhere else.

“The park crew kept it squared away for forty years that I knew about,” said neighbor Clifton Troutman.

Park crews had been maintaining it up until a month ago. Park employees say they were told the Department of Public Works could do the job more safely and so they would be taking over.

“Riverside drive is a scenic Virginia byway, it’s not very scenic when you let it grow up with poison ivy and stuff,” said Troutman.

Sharon North, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, says they’ve been keeping up with the maintenance and say rainfall can make it difficult to always stay on schedule. North also points out that doing the job safely is their top concern. But park employees say the city only comes once a month when they previously mowed the areas once a week.

“See what happens out here when you don’t mow after a month, we get ticketed, every month, I think that’s crazy,” said Kohler.